Chapter 14: The Last Trap
Chapter 14: The Last Trap
Mary immediately called the detective.
Sophia’s police escort had been diverted by a false emergency.
Her ambulance never reached the hospital.
Victoria had taken her.
Daniel demanded to help.
“You’re injured,” Mary said.
“She’ll contact me.”
“Why?”
“Because she still believes I will choose the family.”
Daniel’s phone rang seconds later.
Victoria.
He answered on speaker.
“Mother.”
Her voice was calm.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“The drives are already with federal investigators.”
“Then convince Mary to withdraw her statement.”
“That won’t stop the investigation.”
“It will create doubt.”
Sophia’s frightened breathing could be heard in the background.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Where are you?”
“Bring Mary to the Harrington estate.”
Mary shook her head.
Victoria continued.
“Come without police, or Sophia will suffer for your weakness again.”
The call ended.
Police prepared a tactical operation.
Mary and Daniel would enter the estate wearing concealed transmitters.
“You don’t have to do this,” Daniel told her inside the car.
Mary looked ahead.
“Sophia was pulled into this because of both families. I’m not abandoning her.”
“You could be killed.”
“So could she.”
Daniel looked down at his broken arm.
“I am sorry.”
“I know.”
“For all of it.”
“I know.”
“Is there any chance—”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Daniel swallowed.
Mary continued more gently.
“You saved my life. You helped expose your mother. Those things matter.”
“But they don’t erase what I did.”
“No.”
The estate doors were unlocked.
Inside, Victoria stood in the main hall holding a pistol.
Sophia sat tied to a chair.
Charles stood nearby with blood on his shirt, clutching his side.
“She shot me,” he gasped.
Victoria barely looked at him.
“He became sentimental.”
Mary stepped forward.
“This is over.”
Victoria smiled.
“People like us decide when things are over.”
“No,” Mary said. “People like you only believe that because everyone else stays silent.”
Victoria pointed the gun at Sophia.
“Tell the investigators the files were fabricated.”
“They have the original banking records.”
“Then say Daniel created them.”
Daniel moved in front of Mary.
Victoria’s expression twisted.
“You chose her?”
“No, Mother. I finally stopped choosing you.”
She fired.
Daniel fell.
Mary screamed his name and dropped beside him.
The bullet had struck his shoulder.
Police crashed through the doors.
Victoria grabbed Sophia and pressed the gun against her head.
“Stay back!”
Mary looked at the chandelier above them.
The old estate used a suspended lighting system controlled from a wall panel.
Mary slowly raised her hands.
“You wanted my company?”
Victoria’s eyes stayed fixed on the officers.
“I wanted what your mother stole from me.”
“She exposed you.”
“She humiliated me.”
“And now the whole world knows she was right.”
Victoria’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Mary threw her silver clutch at the wall panel.
The chandelier lights exploded into blinding brightness.
Victoria flinched.
Sophia drove her elbow backward and dropped to the floor.
A detective fired.
The bullet struck Victoria’s arm.
The gun fell.
Officers tackled her.
Mary rushed to Daniel.
He was conscious.
Barely.
“Did we get her?” he whispered.
Mary pressed her hand against his wound.
“Yes.”
He managed a weak smile.
“Then I finally did one thing right.”
May you like
His eyes closed.
And the paramedic could not find a pulse.
